Antigone is a studio album by Japanese musician Eiko Ishibashi. It was released on 28 March 2025 through Drag City. It received universal acclaim from critics.
Background Eiko Ishibashi is a Japanese musician from Chiba Prefecture. She composed the scores for Ryusuke Hamaguchi's films Drive My Car and Evil Does Not Exist. Antigone is her first proper album since The Dream My Bones Dream (2018). It was released on 28 March 2025 through Drag City. Music videos were released for the tracks "Coma" and "Mona Lisa".
Critical reception
Patrick St. Michel of Bandcamp Daily wrote, "Despite the darkness inherent in its sociopolitical context, the beauty of Antigones music offers a testament to its transcendence." Raphael Helfand of The Fader described the album as "a fully immersive experience, pulling the listener down complex emotional currents so gently one hardly notices they're being taken." Levi Dayan of The Quietus stated, "Listening to Antigone, one can hear everything Ishibashi has achieved in these fruitful past few years coming to a head."
Accolades + Year-end lists for Antigone Publication List Rank The Quietus The Quietus Albums of the Year 2025 Spectrum Culture Top 20 Albums of 2025 Uncut Top 50 New Albums of 2025 The Wire Releases of the Year (2025 Rewind)
Track listing
Notes The orchestral part of "The Model" was composed for 2x25 at Film Fest Gent and performed by Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Dirk Brossé. The spoken text of "The Model" is taken from "The Politics of Health in the Eighteenth Century" by Michel Foucault.
Personnel Credits adapted from liner notes.
Eiko Ishibashi – vocals, piano, Rhodes piano, synthesizer, sound collage, string arrangement, horn arrangement, recording Jim O'Rourke – synthesizer, six-string bass, drum machine, string arrangement, horn arrangement, production, recording, mixing Tatsuhisa Yamamoto – drums Joe Talia – percussion (1, 2), drums (3) Marty Holoubek – bass (1–3, 5–8) Ermhoi – vocals (2), backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 7) Kalle Moberg – accordion (2, 6) Kei Matsumaru – alto saxophone (3, 5), tenor saxophone (3, 5) Toshioaki Sudoh – bass (4) Mio.O – violin (8) Kirin Uchida – cello (8) Taro Mizutani – cover photography, inner sleeve photography Yoko Kusano – inner sleeve photography Shibashin – 3DCG Dan Osborn – layout
References
External links